Saturday, April 22, 2017

I am grateful to my parents who have taught me early on to love and take care of our earth. My family was happiest camping every summer. And I mean real camping....in tents. Every summer we went (along with my cousins and friends) to Kill Bear Park (sounds rough...with the 'kill' but I promise no bears (or any other animals) were killed) which is a little past Parry Sound.

Yesterday I heard disturbing news over the radio. Croatia is one of the worst countries in the EU for recycling, Zagreb one of the worst cities. It pisses me off but doesn't surprise me. I personally think Croatians are just too lazy to recycle.

What can I do about it? Firstly I can teach my kids by example not to be wasteful in every aspect of our lives. Not to litter, to recycle, to support companies that are eco friendly. Am I perfect....absolutley not. But I'm trying my best.

As a business owner I am often in conflict with myself. I'm trying not to be wasteful in evey aspect of my life and one of them being a consumer. I feel we just buy buy buy. You can see my problem....I sell stamps! Sell, sell, sell. I do take comfort in that I'm selling a product that envokes creativity. Creating handmade cards that will brighten up someone's day. That's an awesome thing. But I do want to say use my stamps. I mean really use them, stretch your stamp sets, think outside the box, mix and match your sets and only buy the ones you REALLY love.

For the stamps you no longer use you can recycle them by re-selling them, give them away, donate them, just don't let them be sitting there collecting dust or worse throw them away.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Naturisimo is one of my favourite on line shops for natural beauty. The customer service is great and quick delivery (they are based in the UK). They deliver worldwide.

Besides carrying so many gorgeous products their packaging is beautiful and eco friendly.

Before I talk about the yummy lipstick I ordered I want to share the samples I got. I bought Schmidt's Tea Tree deodorant (a mini) for my son and husband to try out (they really like it so far) and I got a mini in Rose Vanilla (my daughter and I love this one).

I've always been curious about these two REN products and I got a little sampe of Vapour's concealer.

So the main reason for this little order of mine is this GORGEOUS lipstick! I've been eyeing Axiology lipsticks for a while now and decided to treat myself with Devotion which is described as 'a copper burnt-sugar base and an echo of rose quartz, Devotion is the girl-crush of natural-look lovers. Its buttery luster keeps lips flawlessly moisturized and supple.'

This is not a colour I usually tend to wear but I wanted a little something different.

The packaging is gorgeous.

The colour is beautiful and it wears amazingly. I'm surprised how long it lasts on my lips for such a moisturizing lipstick. I LOVE it and you know what this means now.......I need more!! Well I don't need more...I WANT more! Axiology has recently come out with Lip Crayons!! I LOVE me a crayon!

Monday, April 17, 2017

I hope you all had a lovely Easter with your family and friends and if you don't celebrate Easter I hope you had a lovely weekend.

My kids wanted me to make my oreo cake for Easter which is really my chocolate cake that I just tweak a bit.

Delicious Devil's Food Cake

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/14 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degress C.

Grease (not oil) and lightly flour botton of cake pan (if using). In a large bowl, blend all ingredients at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pans/muffin tins. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or around 18 to 20 minutes in muffin tins (depending how big you muffin tray is). Cool completey and frost.

So the cake part is the same, the tweaking takes place with the frosting. I whip up some whipping cream (I'm sure cool whip would work just fine), I don't really measure how much I use but once I've mixed the frosting I add the whipped cream an mix that in. I break up a bunch of oreo cookies and cover the first layer of cream (the more the better). The cookie softens in the cake and it's YUM!

For the top of the cake I just place oreo halves around the edge.

Creamy Whipped Frosting

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

pinch of salt (if you are using unsalted butter)

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup of butter (113 grams)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In small saucepan, combine first 3 ingredients. Blend in milk. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens stirring constantly. Stir in butter. Chill about 1/2 hour or until cool. Stir in vanilla and beat at high speed until light and fluffy.

Like with every blog hop there's a giveaway. Winner chooses stamp set of choice AND you can take advantage of 25% off all clear stamp sets. I put in an order to restock the shop and will allow pre orders so you can take advantage of the sale BUT keep in mind it takes about 3 weeks for the stamps to get to me.

Monday, April 10, 2017

I had a lovely weekend. The weather felt more like summer than spring but I'm not complaining.

My mama sent me some happy mail and in it was some Zoya nail polishes. I LOVE this one (comes off a little lighter in the photo). It's called Eastyn.

I also went to Ikea with my girlfriend.

I tried this piece of goodness, can't remember what it's called but it's literally a snickers bar in cake form! My girlfriend had the carrot cake, also yum.

I started to crochet a throw for the sofa. It's going to take forever. :)

I worry lots....like way too much. I worry about the past, present and future and it's a horrible way to live. Wasting so much time on worrying and missing out on life. I'm working on it...it's hard but I do have different things that relax me like crocheting. Another is my faith. This one brings me comfort. :)

Well first off I'm 42 years old (I think LOL) and I feel like I have a bit of everything but I think it's combination. In the warmer months my t-zone is a bit more oily. My skin is also dehydrated. My biggest issue is hyperpigmentation.

2. How do you store your skincare products?

I store my creams, oils and serums in this bin (below) in my closet. I believe I read (or heard) Caroline Hirons mention that she keeps her skincare in a dark place. I keep my toners and cleansers in the bathroom.

3. Favorite ingredient?

My favourite ingredient is vitamin C (because of all the amazing benefits) but the whole issue about it being stable in products makes me question how effective it is. AHA's is one that I have to mention. I wish I had started using AHA's earlier...but better late than never.

Again I would say coconut oil and (forgot to photograph it but I will be blogging about it soon) Cosmel's Creamy Poppy Milk.....this product is crazy!! It's a cleanser, moisturizer (face and body), safe for pregnant women. Like I said I will doing a separate blog post on this product.

9. If you had to stick to only one skincare brand, what would it be?

It would have to be Cosmel. I've tried and use many of their products....some are my must haves.

I LOVE cleansing my skin in the evening with a cleansing balm or oil. When I'm tired I use Biobaza's Face Cleansing Micellar Oil. It's a rinse off formula. Easy, quick and it works!

I LOVE Green Girl's Take It Off cleansing balm. My favourite! This balm melts into a gorgeous oil as you massage it onto your skin and it melts all your make up/mascara off and it rinses off too but I always use a muslin cloth with this balm.